2026 April and May Upland Farm Update
UPLAND FARM UPDATE:
Congratulations to our Trainer Ashley Bearden and all of her amazing students!!!! Great Job All!! 🎉🎉
Now that things have slowed down just a little we can actually catch up on all the great things our Upland Farm riders, & AB Sporthorse riders have tackled in the last month.
April 4-5 We attended San Antonio Rose Palace
– Ashley & Kalliope competed PSG with scores in the 60’s qualifying them for Regionals.
– Becca brought Fergie along to dance in the sand with us. Fergie competed 1-3 with consistent scores of 66 through the weekend qualifying them for Regionals, & 2-3 with consistent scores at 62
April 11-12 a few of us attended WEC. We had a blast hanging out, watching the Jumper classes, the Freestyles, & then breaking it up with some Cutting mid day. It was so great to be back in the Dallas area, & catch up with old friends.
April 18-19 We spent the weekend at DSRP
– Becca brought Selfie and bumped her up to first level. Fergie went along to get a bit of practice on the new First level Freestyle that Becca created for her. Both girls did fabulous throughout the weekend
– Sarah brought Bennett to jump back in the ring for the first time in a few years. They tackled so many trials & tribulations just to get there, & then went in, & exceeded the goals Sarah had set for them.
April 23-26 We took a fairly good sized crew to the HDS Spring show in Katy.
– Ashley & Kalliope competed PSG with scores up to 64.8
– Donna put her mare Daisy back in the ring after some time off. Throughout the week they put in some very consistent tests each day improving on their quality each ride. They were able to attain the first of her Second Level scores to go towards her Bronze medal.
– Royale brought Mac with us for their first Recognized Dressage show. She came in telling me she felt like she had imposter syndrome on her little Arabian surrounded by Warmbloods. She put her faith in me, & I think they definitely proved to themselves what I’ve always known 😉 , they have the skill & absolutely belong out there! They did Training 3 & had a 64 all 3 days, & they did First level with scores that ranged from 63-66.4. She was able to qualify for USDF Regionals, Sporthorse Regionals, gain her 1st level scores towards her bronze, & pack some points towards his Legion awards.
– Alex & Magic joined us at the shows again after a little hiatus to have a baby. I’m not quite sure how Alex juggles it all, but she manages to do it with such grace & ease. They competed at First and Second level with scores up to 65.6 that qualified her, & Magic for Regionals at 1st level.
– Leah & her new guy Ocioso traveled along with us as a non-compete pair. He was able to play in the warm up, & show rings, & spenda little time immersed in the show environment.
May 9-10
-Becca packed up Fergie for the Bluebonnet Dressage show while I was away at the clinic. She rode 2-3 with scores from 63-64. They also performed the Freestyle Becca wrote, & her son created the music for. She scored 66.8-70.5 earning herself the scores she needed to qualify for Regionals, get the score for her 1st level portion of her Bronze level freestyle bar, & qualify to make herself a Second level Freestyle.
May 9-10 I packed Kalliope up & went to spend the weekend in Paradise, Tx with JJ Tate. She brought a lot of exercises, detail, enthusiasm, & excitement to every lesson she taught throughout the day. JJ was definitely a Kalliope fan from the get go, & I think only loved her more as our rides went on. I joke a lot about how tricky, & complicated (maybe other adjectives too) that she is, & she absolutely is. However she is also amazing, can sometimes just take my breath away with how talented she is. We spent the weekend working on a lot of lateral exercises to try to jump our great lateral work into excellent work. JJ kept telling me that she wanted me to be able to ride pirouettes like Isabell Werth, which ok, but also only in my wildest dreams. By the end of the weekend we had actually started to put pieces together enough that I could actually see the possibilities. We finished the weekend doing walk, canter, walk transitions within a pirouette on a long rein. Now long rein is still a very loose interpretation because I was only 3 notches longer than where I would typically ride her, & Isabell can do them on the buckle, however we have goals!!!
Next up we have …
-Sport Horse Regionals for Royale & Mac
– Ashley will be heading to Dallas to teach a Dressage clinic at the end of May
– We are currently confirming July dates for a Claudio Oliveira Pi/Pa clinic
